The Best Baritone I Ever Knew

Hugh was the best.  I wrote once about his dying, which moved me deeply.  This is about his singing!  He was the acknowledged lead baritone soloist for the Houston Tidelanders, a massive barbershop group (75 of them sang at his funeral).  A masterful figure on stage, an engaging singer in small groups, Hugh understood that singing was about telling a story with music and rhyme.  He could draw a listener in, and move a crowd.

I liked his "Little Drummer Boy" at Christmas every year.  He had a seasonal thing for each part of the year.  "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" could stop the show (and the service, for that matter!).

One Sunday, Hugh sang.  Our sound-board manager was not the best, but he tried hard, most folks loved him, and he needed a place to serve, even though he was not a musician at all.  So, there he was in the balcony.  Hugh began to sing.  Verse one, fine.  First chorus, settling in for a fine experience.  Verse two started, then abruptly changed.  Microphone dead, Hugh just projected more and carried the song, without the benefit of electronics.

After service, I asked the sound-board manager what happened, what had failed.  "Oh, nothing failed, Hugh was just way too loud so I cut him off."  The tone deaf sound-board manager was replaced by the second service that morning.

Sometimes we decide the priceless voice of God is a little strong for our ears, a little demanding for our life-style, so we just hit the button and turn off the sound.  Doesn't work.  It's like the exchange of wits, written on a wall somewhere, in two short parts:

"God is dead" - Nietzsche    was the "wit's" inscription.
"Nietzsche is dead" - God     was the believer's answer.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing.
Freedom to listen is a wonderful thing.
Deciding NOT to listen does not strip the Word of its authority or power.

Turning off the microphone that day didn't stop the song, didn't cancel Hugh's status, it just earned the sound-board technician more free-time when he was replaced.

I want to listen.  I want to grow.  And that requires much more silence than assertion, much more prayer than preaching.  After all, He IS the Word.

Blessings